Australia and Canada suspend support for UNRWA after Israeli accusations

NOn Friday, the United States announced that it would “temporarily suspend” all future funding to the UN agency that is at the center of distributing aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, under fire from fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist movement.

Today, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “deeply concerned” about the allegations against UNRWA.

“We are discussing with our partners and will temporarily suspend payment of recent financing,” he wrote on the X social network.

“We welcome UNRLA’s immediate response, including the termination of contracts and the announcement of an investigation into the allegations against the organization,” he continued.

For his part, the Canadian Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, announced that “Canada has temporarily suspended all additional funding to UNRWLA while it carries out a thorough investigation of these allegations”.

“Canada takes these allegations extremely seriously and is working closely with Unrwa and other donors on this issue,” he wrote in X.

“If these allegations are proven, Canada expects UNRWLA to take immediate action against those identified as having been involved in Hamas terrorist attacks,” he wrote, adding that Ottawa remains “deeply concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and continues to appeal to a rapid, sustained and unimpeded flow of essential aid.”

UNRWLA had already announced on Friday that it had received information from Israel about the “alleged involvement of several of its employees” in the attack.

“In order to protect the agency’s ability to provide humanitarian aid, I have decided to immediately terminate the contracts of these employees and open an investigation,” said the agency’s director, Philippe Lazzarini, in a statement.

“Any official who has been involved in acts of terrorism will be held accountable, including through legal proceedings,” he promised.

For its part, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded a “thorough internal review of the activities of Hamas and other terrorist organizations” within UNRWLA.

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